Category Russia

Stefan Korshak and the Siege of Mariupol book

While I am fairly well known in the historical analysis and military history community, my co-author of the Mariupol book is not. This video on a panel on the trauma of Ukraine’s children does provide a brief introduction of him and the book at around 15:00: War in Europe: The Trauma of Ukraine’s Children. What’s being done, what can be done to help?

It does sort of understate his qualifications. He was a U.S. Army officer in the 1980s, has a masters degree from Yale, and served as an OSCE representative in Mariupol for seven years (2014-2022), observing the ceasefire there and regularly meeting with units of the Ukrainian Army, Azov Regiment, Donets People’s Republic Army and the Russian Army. A little bit more than just a reporter.

9 Books

Finally here is a picture of all nine of my published books. It includes two copies of The Battle for Kyiv, as one is the hardback and one is the paperback version. The paperback version does have some revisions and an expanded photo section.

We are looking to add two more books to that collection in the next six months. An additional book on the Russo-Ukrainian War should be out in the next 2 to 3 months, and The Battle of Tolstoye Woods should be out hopefully this spring. The editing process on all my books is slow, primarily because the large amount of charts, tables and tabular data in them that are a pain to edit and proof.

Four Books

Just got my author copies for a few of my books. Decided to post them all up.



1. Hunting Falcon – available U.S. April 3, 2025

2. Aces at Kursk – available U.S. September 30, 2024

3. Battle for Kyiv (paperback) – Hardback available U.S. January 18, 2024 – paperback available UK 4 December 2025. Will be available U.S. February 28, 2026.

4. Siege of Mariupol – Available UK 27 November 2025. Available U.S. January 30, 2026.

Can order directly from the publisher: Pen and Sword Books: The Siege of Mariupol – Hardback

Can order from UK Amazon.com: The Siege of Mariupol: The Azovstal Steel Plant and Ukraine’s Battle for Survival : Christopher A Lawrence, Stefan Korshak: Amazon.co.uk: Books


The piano in the background is an August Foerster. Made in Loebau, Germany since 1859. This one is from East Germany (1949-1990). Country dissolved, but the piano is just fine.

Paperback version of The Battle for Kyiv is out in the UK

The paperback version of The Battle for Kyiv is now out in the UK. It has been slightly updated from the hardback version. In particular it has included an updated account of the Battle of Chernihiv and an expanded picture section. The paperback version will be available in the U.S. come 28 February 2026.

Also The Siege of Mariupol has been out in the UK since 27 November. It will be available in the U.S. come 30 January 2026.

Links to Stefan Korshak’s blog, co-author of The Siege of Mariupol

My co-author Stefan Korshak does regularly post about the war in Ukraine. He has three links to his weekly blog from Kyiv about the Russo-Ukraine War:

https://www.facebook.com/stefan.korshak
https://stefankorshak.substack.com
https://medium.com/@Stefan.Korshak

Stefan is currently located in Kyiv. Originally from Texas, officer in the U.S. Army in the 1980s, Yale grad, served as an OSCE ceasefire observer in Mariupol from 2014-2022, and now reports for the Kyiv Post. Currently working with me on our second book, The Battle for the Donbas. 

Europe’s Choice: Military and Economic Scenarios for the War in Ukraine

This paper just released by CORISK and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) is definitely worth taking a look at.

English language version: 2025 Europes choice_FINAL_251125_174147

There are eight references to Dupuy’s work and one to War by Numbers, so it definitely holds our interest. The chapters in the report are:

  1. Military Scenarios and their costs
  2. Introduction
  3. Political analysis
  4. The Scenario
  5. Humanitarian analysis
  6. Military analysis
  7. Economic analysis
  8. Costs and conclusions
  9. Sources
  10. Appendix A – Extended model for calculating combat power
  11. Appendix B – Method for calculating average loss of Russian material

Definitely take a look at this. 

 

P.S. Official link: Publikasjoner

And in Norwegian: To scenarier for krigen i Ukraina: Hva betyr de for Europa – og hva vil det koste? | NUPI

The Siege of Mariupol is Available in the UK

My latest book, The Siege of Mariupol, co-authored by Stefan Korshak, is now available in the UK. The Amazon.com (UK) link is here: The Siege of Mariupol: The Azovstal Steel Plant and Ukraine’s Battle for Survival : Christopher A Lawrence, Stefan Korshak: Amazon.co.uk: Books

It is listed as “Temporarily out of stock” but I gather you can find it at your local UK bookstore. 

It can also be ordered directly from the publisher: Pen and Sword Books: The Siege of Mariupol – Hardback

The title will be released in the U.S. on January 20, 2026. The Amazon.com link is here: The Siege of Mariupol: The Azovstal Steel Plant and Ukraine’s Battle for Survival: Lawrence, Christopher A, Korshak, Stefan: 9781399034203: Amazon.com: Books

I can talk a lot about this book, but for today, I will let the book speak for itself.

Yahoo AI and order of battle for operations near Chernihiv in 2022

Well, having some more problems with AI. I was trying to confirm for once and for all whether any elements of the Russian 11th Guards Air Assault Brigade was near Chernihiv in first six weeks of the Russo-Ukrainian War? My suspicion is that it was not although some Wikipedia-type orders of battle put it there.

I did ask Yahoo AI and it said:

———

The 11th Guards Air Assault Brigade was indeed active near Chernihiv in 2022 during the early stages of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Operational Context

  • The brigade is part of the Russian Airborne Forces and was involved in operations aimed at capturing key Ukrainian cities.
  • Chernihiv, located in northern Ukraine, was a significant target due to its strategic location.

Military Engagement

  • Reports indicate that the brigade participated in assaults and faced resistance from Ukrainian forces.
  • The fighting around Chernihiv was intense, with Ukrainian defenders successfully repelling several attacks.

Current Status

  • As of late 2022, the situation in the region evolved, with ongoing military engagements and shifting front lines.

This information is based on various military analyses and reports from the conflict.


Unfortunately, it did not give the actual sources they used. I gather anything incorrectly entered into Wikipedia results in AI responses that could be in error. I went to their Yahoo Chat and they gave three sources: 1) Siege of Chernihiv | Military Wiki | Fandom, 2) 6 months of war: How Russia got derailed in Ukraine and 3) Russian Authorities Detain, Threaten Soldiers Refusing to Fight in Ukraine – The Moscow Times.

I am still not convinced that AI is operating above the level of a bright high school student.

 

Khrushchev Quote and AI

Nikita Khrushchev is one of more interesting people of the cold war era. I found a quote of his that I wanted to use in one of my books on the current Russo-Ukranian war. The quote is “The more bombers, the less room for doves of peace.”

Great quote, it is all over the internet, but none of the references actually said when and where it was said. I am jaded enough that I never use a quote that I cannot find the source for. I could not find a source of this one.

So, not being a complete dinosaur, I decided to use Yahoo.com little AI function (chat.yahoo.com). It ended up stating:

Nikita Khrushchev famously stated, “The more bombers, the less room for doves of peace,” during a speech at the United Nations General Assembly on September 18, 1959. This quote reflects his critique of the arms race and the paradox of military escalation during the Cold War, emphasizing that an increase in military power diminishes the space for peaceful resolutions and diplomacy 1.

If you have more questions about Khrushchev or related topics, feel free to ask! 😊

Sources:

 

Problem solved. AI gave me date and location. But, I checked the footnote and it did not say that. So then I checked speech that he gave there: On Peaceful Co-Existence: A Collection : Хрущев, Никита Сергеевич, 1894-1971 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

On page 100 is the complete transcript of the speech he gave at the UN on September 18, 1959. It has one reference to bombers, no references to doves. It clearly was not stated in this speech.

Now, it does appear that the Yahoo AI just made up an answer. A convincing invention, and one that could have caught me out if I did not diligently crosschecked.

So, I went and searched the newspapers.com file. The Tampa Tribune in 1995 gave me the attribution “Nikita Khrushchev, speech on Moscow radio, March 14, 1958.  Aug 06, 1995, page 8 – The Tampa Tribune at Newspapers.com.

Oddly enough that was the only two papers in the newspapers.com database that repeated this quote. The Tucson Citizen in 2002 also used the quote, attributing it to “Nikita S. Khruschev, Soviet premier, 1958”.  Dec 28, 2002, page 19 – Tucson Citizen at Newspapers.com. So at least they agree on the year, even if they spell his name differently. 

Should I stop looking? I would like to find the original source or an earlier source for this quote. Not sure where to look next.

 

P.S. Just to note, Khrushchev was

1938-1947: First Secretary, Kiev City Committee

1938-1947: First Secretary, Kiev Regional Committee

1944-1947: Chairman, Ukrainian Council of Ministers

And in 1954 he was the person who transferred Sevastopol and Crimea to Ukraine. 

He, as always, has a very checkered history. This is well illustrated by his grave, done at his family’s request by a sculptor he had suppressed: Ernst Neizvestny – Wikipedia.

What is more important: Ukraine or Taiwan ?

A little geo-political discussion here: What is more important 1) to support the defense of Ukraine or 2) to support the defense of Taiwan?

 

Some stats:

                         Population                                       GDP                         Area
Ukraine         33,443,000 (2024 est.)    189.827 billion    603,628 sq.km (233,062 sq. miles)
Taiwan           23,894,394 (2022 est.)    751.930 billion      36,197 sq.km (13,976 sq. miles)

 

                           Per Capita GDP      Per Capital GDP (PPP)     Gini (2022/23)     HDI (2021/22)
Ukraine               5,759 (2025 est.)       20,756                                 25.6                 0.734
Taiwan                32,339 (2023 est.)    72,485                                  34.2                  0.926
United States    86,601 (2024 est.)    86,601                                 41.6                   0.927
                            
                             Active Personnel     Reserve Personnel           Budget
Ukraine            1,260,000                    2,700,000                            64.8 billion
Taiwan                  150,000                     1,657,000                            19.1 billion  

 

Now, probably the most significant factor is who are their neighbors. In the case of Ukraine, it borders the NATO countries of Romania, Hungary and Poland and the non-NATO countries of Russian, Belarus and Moldova (and Transnistria). One can argue that it is a gateway to NATO and the EU.   

Taiwan only borders China. It is a distance over water to the Philippines or South Korea or Japan. Much further to Australia and New Zealand. 

Therefore one can make the argument that Ukraine’s geo-political position is far more significant than that of Taiwan.

One can, of course, make the argument that they are both significantly important for U.S. national security.